DIGITAL CAMERAS:
Summer 2024 was the resurgence of digital cameras. If you’re at an event (a football game or a high school spirit day), it’s more than likely that you will see a digital camera pop out. Digital cameras have been one of the best ways to take photos as of late.
Digital cameras are perfect for mainly two reasons: quality and convenience. If you have a good quality digital camera (Kodak, Canon, etc.), you will get great quality pictures, and the results will not disappoint. With flash, a digital camera can make anything look aesthetically pleasing and like something that popped straight out of a 2000s movie. Great digital cameras also have amazing zoom, and if you’re at a concert, can make 300s or nosebleed seats look like 100s (from personal experience)! Digital cameras are also super convenient to carry around. They’re small, wallet-sized, and can be brought into (most) venues for any event. Converting pictures is also really easy: if you have a SD card reader on your laptop, you can download pictures directly, and if not, you can buy a reader online for around $5.
However, getting a hold of a digital camera can be difficult. Ever since digital cameras originally blew up on social media, it’s been hard to get one that’s affordable. Unless you have one from childhood, you’re probably going to have to pay $100+ for a good quality camera, and that’s if you’re lucky. You could buy the $30 digital cameras on TikTok if you’re really desperate, but the quality is not even worth that $30.Getting old digital cameras fixed is also tedious, as a majority of camera or technology shops haven’t started to offer digital camera services yet.
A digital camera is the perfect way to document anything you’re going to, but if you don’t already have one, best of luck with getting one, you’ll really need it.
DISPOSABLE CAMERAS:
If you’re someone who loves to collect memories in a physical form, a disposable camera is the perfect stocking stuffer or even all year round gift for you.
A disposable camera, while reminding us (me) of 6th grade science camp, is one of the best ways to take pictures besides digital cameras. The quality may not always be the best, but if you have an eye for aesthetic old-looking pictures, it’ll pay off. I personally think the grain/filter on disposable cameras and the pictures taken on them are super cute and add personality to pictures, but it depends on the person. Also, you can collect the photos from your disposable cameras! Disposable pictures make for great wallet or phone case pictures with customizable sizes, and in my opinion, are the best for keepsakes (notably, not the best if you want to post pictures or keep them digitally).
But, disposable cameras are also not the most convenient. Even if the camera itself is not that expensive ($20), the cost of everything disposable camera related adds up quite quickly. To get pictures developed, you have to pay $15, which makes the life of 24-27 pictures on a disposable equal to a grand total of $35. At that point, it may be smarter to save up and buy a digital camera, where you can take pictures, get them digitally, and print them out if you want physical memories. You also have one take per picture, and it can take a while for pictures to be developed.
Disposable cameras are the best for small trips or if you want one to document a year (school, calendar), but aren’t convenient in the long run and can be pricey.
